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meditation

For the longest time, I was sceptical of meditation. To be honest, I didn’t really know what it was. The things I used to associate with meditation were: yogis, hypnosis, levitation and some esoteric spiritual hippie movement. So I totally understood why my father once looked at me with a little suspicion and disbelief after I announced that I was going to take 10 minutes to meditate (sorry Dad)!

You see, I’m someone that needs to understand things in an evidence based context. Show me the proof. That’s not to say we can explain all things in life with science, evidence and reasoning, but it sure does help. Luckily, many aspects of meditation can be explained and measured with science.

The biggest breakthrough for me was when I read a book called “Search Inside Yourself” by Chade-Meng Ten. Now before you literally judge the book by its cover (like I did), give me a chance to explain a little further.

Meng is a former engineer at Google, who ended up switching roles within the company to run the Mindfulness Meditation Department (which was growing popular very rapidly). Trust a silicone valley tech company to have its own mindfulness department. Anyway, he writes his book in a scientific yet relatable language which is friendlier to sceptics such as myself. It was one of those books that after reading, I could no longer erase from my mind. My view of the world and what it meant to be “spiritual” changed….

I’ve always been a goals-oriented kinda girl. For me, there’s nothing quite like striking a couple of things off my to-do list, or finishing a day knowing that I had been extra productive. It’s just so deliciously satisfying for someone motivated by accomplishing things. I find myself energised when talking to my friends about how we can grow as individuals and achieve all the things we want to do with our lives. So I’ve put together a list of some routines and habits which help me increase my productivity, hopefully it’s useful for you too!…